Omaha daily bee., 1887-05-05
A Flaw in tho German Army.

"A NiibSi III viz DlpiiONuSVuS
selle, one of the best French reviews, has
lately given important particulars about
the German Army, to which attention
has not been called before, showing that
everything IS not perfect IN that hitherto
supposed perfect engine Of death. Tho
main fact developed, and from which
the others naturally flow, is that Ger
many does not retire her officers, as do
almost all other nations, at a fixed age,
that is to say, when it is considered that
they have done their work and had bet
ter give place to younger men, but theirs
is a life tenure of Office. There is no
discharge in that war" She keeps them
and uses them as long as they are good
for anything. Frederick the Great would
not consent to pension men who were in.
capable of rendering service.
A French traveller, Nj. lie Marquis de
Toulongan, wrote in 1856: "All the gen
erals have seen in Berlin, except Nj.
de Mollendorf and de Prinitz, are old,
worn out, and incapable of making
war About the same time the Count
of Diesbach wrote: There are adjutants
(aidcs de camp of the king) of the great
est merit and capacity who stagnate in
the grade of captains. The greater
part of our general officers are very old"
Some of these same officers were the
opponents of Napoleon 20 years later,
and could not mount their horses with
out help!
The emperor William does not like to
part with his old servants. In vain they
tell him they are worn out with age, rid
died with wounds, and that the time has
come for rest. do rest" he answers,
with proud sadness; 'am I on a bed of
rosesY Hence the very, unfortunate sit
uation of matters in tho army, which
several writer's do not hesitate to speak
of, among others Col. Won Der, Goltz,
who refers to it at different times, as may
be seeh in this extract from his book,
'"The Armed Nation:"
I'm the German army, all the men
who occupy high positions have reached
the age when the physical and intellectual
faculties begin to fail. Napoleon at
forty one complained that he had not his
ride, he wrote, requires an effort on my
part. Frederick the Great was forty.
eight when he wrote, Il have the task OF
Hercules to accomplish ut a time when
my strength rs leaving me, when my in.
tirmities are increasing, when-to speak
plainly-hope, that consoler of the un-
happy, has just left me- And this is the
talon, who still have to mount the
greater part of the ladder of promotion,
few of the colonies are under forty eight.
Among our generals of brigade you will
hardly fine one who is not Older. And it
is only from this grade that the functions
of great commander begin to be inn
portant. Men who are sixty or older
certainly cannot have all the rapidity of
comprehension, the memory or the vigor
of their earlier years"
The General Prince de Hohenlohe, in
his Military Letters did not hesitate
to touch upon 'thc delicate point which
we would prefer to pass in silence"-his
own words-to wit: Prussia has not for
her independent cavalry sufficient mum.
ber of generals who, to experience and
knowledge of service, join the physical
qualities necessary for this special and
particularly difficult command-eXcellent
sight, vigOr and the:habit of remaining
long in the saddle without fatigue.
Except in case of war, the officers are
army. For this reason promotion is very
slow which causes much dissatisfaction.
All those officers ambitious of promotion
their name is legiOn-aDd those who
rightly feel themselves confined to grades
below their merit, chafe and fret at the
restraint to their ambition, and urge tho
nation on to new conquests. Meanwhile
the people, who bear the burden of this
immense army, are asking for the dis
arming of the soldiers. rs the socialists
are now dong, or trying to limit the ap-
preparations for military purposes.
In an army where the officers are not
put ON the retired list at a certain age.
and promotion IS too slow, there are put
two ways of remedying the evil. War,
which makes great many vacancies, or
an increase of the army which will allow
numerous promotions, as has recently
been carried into effect in Germany.
If we realize how the desire of promo
ton makes the army urge on and excite
the people to war, we may perhcps be-
lieve there was some truth IN the words
of General Won Moltke and Prince Bis
marck when they declared there must be
an increase of the army or war, an asser-
ton which can be interpreted moro
easily in view of the necessity of satisfy
ing the restless, ambitious spirits among
the officers.
1t seems impossible to maintain the
German army much longer in the state
in which 1t IS now. Neither the finances
of the state, the progress OF parliamen:
tary rule nor the democratic idea will
permit il. AS we have said above, the
officers who have contributed TO make
the Prussian army what it has been tho
past twenty years, are growing very old,
and must soon disappear from the scene
of action. Who will take their places?
This is certainly serious question, for it
involves, in large measure, the future
of that army, and consequently the for
tunes of Germany itself.
II you are suffering with weak or in
famed eyes, or granula lated eyelids, you
can be quickly cured by using DR.. j. II.
Mclean s strengthening Eye Salve. 20
cents a box.
Long Stories Made Short.
Twenty five years ago, says the Lewis
ton (Me.J Journal, Albert Ellis, of Wins
low, filled up a clay pipe for Il good
smoke. He had used only half of its con-
tents, for on the next day he went to
war He survived and came home but
did not finish that smoke until few days
ago, when he happened to find the old
pipe. partly empty, just as he had left it,
An old farmer at Kingston, N. Y, was
hailed a day or two ago by man who
wanted ride. The farmer looked at
the man a moment and then asked: "Be
you a prohibitIonist or dimmycrats"
The man answered that to n certain cx-
tent he was both. Hell said he believed
in prohibition, but always voted the
straight democratic ticket. Cit out"